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WASHINGTON — The Washington Navy Yard shooter lied about a previous arrest and failed to
disclose thousands of dollars in debts when he applied for a security clearance in the Navy.

Then federal investigators dismissed the omissions, and made one of their own — deleting any
reference to Aaron Alexis’ use of a gun in that arrest.

The gaps in his record eventually allowed him to work in the secure Navy building where he
gunned down 12 workers last week, underscoring weaknesses with the clearance process that Navy
officials are targeting for change.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recommended on Monday that all police reports — not just arrests or
convictions — involving an individual must be included when a background check is done. He also
recommended that the Navy enhance its management of sailor evaluations and fitness reports by
assigning more senior officers to oversee them.

The Navy, in a report released on Monday, revealed new details about Alexis’ Navy service,
including his failure to reveal the 2004 arrest over a parking disagreement in Seattle. And
officials said the background report given to the Navy omitted the fact that he shot out the tires
of another person’s car during that dispute.

Instead, the report from the Office of Personnel Management said Alexis “deflated” the
tires.

Defense officials have acknowledged that a lot of red flags were missed in Alexis’ background,
allowing him to maintain a secret-level security clearance and have access to a secure Navy
facility despite a string of behavioral problems and brushes with the law.

Over the past week, they have been struggling to determine what might have been missed and what
changes could be made to try to prevent similar violence in the future.

So far, however, the detailed reviews only underscore how subjective the security checks can be
and how difficult it is to predict violent behavior based only on minor conduct issues.